Book a Week in 2012 - Week 3

[dangermom]

Here's my tally for the week:

 

Hopjoy Was Here, a fun British murder mystery

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, classic SF alternate history

The Story of an African Farm, early South African classic novel (sad)

Black Out (this one is Robin's fault, I'd never heard of Lisa Unger before she was the U author)

Also Richard Mitchell's screed The Graves of Academe!

 

I just finished this great amazing memoir of Jacques Lusseyran called And There Was Light--he went blind as a child and then ran a unit in the French Resistance during WWII. That's what the book focuses on, very little about his subsequent time in Buchenwald and nothing at all about after that. It's a great book and everyone should read it.

 

Next up...I'm not sure, I've got a pile though!

[QuirkyKapers]

I am finishing up Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

and I am starting Ahab's Wife

[Enough]

This week it is:

 

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

 

Oh, I loved this book sooooooo much when I read it- in spite of the overwhelming tragedy it has as its core. I am putting this on my 'read again this year' list!

 

Up for this week is continuing with Ahab's Wife (am about 2/3 of the way in and I absolutely love it- this will go down as one of my all-time favorite books, for sure) with the intent of giving myself until the 28th to finish it ;) and starting something else that I will finish by the 21st.

 

So far I've read:

 

3. The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp (rating: eh)

2. Raising Freethinkers by Dale McGowan (rating: excellent)

1. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (rating: excellent)

[TravelingChris]

About 11/23/63- This was the last book I read in 2011. I like Stephen King as a writer but was looking at this book wavering because I really don't like Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories and thought this book might go down like that. It doesn't and really it is much more about other things than the assassination which I like. Much of it dwells on life in the early 60's. It also makes you really think about perfectionism.

[Melinda in VT]

I say "duh loose" but have no idea if that's correct. How do you say it?

 

Looks like you are correct according to the author.

 

Q: How do you pronounce Flavia de Luce's name?

 

A: FLAY-vee-ah duh LOOSE

[Mom-ninja.]

I have started Persuasion by Jane Austen which is my favorite of her novels. I'm also reading St. Augustine's Confessions, but this is rather slow going and I don't expect to have it finished this week.

 

 

 

I just finished Persuasion. Love Austen.

 

I read Augustine last year. Took me awhile.

[rieshy]

I am finishing up Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

and I am starting Ahab's Wife

 

How did you like Til We Have Faces? I read it years ago and remember enjoying it though I associate melancholy feelings with the book. But maybe I read it during a cloudy week in February.:tongue_smilie:

 

I just finished Günter Grass's Cat and Mouse, and Ditched Parzival 3/4 of the way through.

 

I'm looking forward to reading a book of Rilke's poetry this week and something else as of yet to be determined from my list.

[scholarly]

Last week I finished #4 EntreLeadership- Dave Ramsey and #5 Ivy and Intrigue- Lauren Willig.

 

In my opinion:

 

#4 was interesting. I read it although I have no thoughts of ever owning a business. I just like Dave Ramsey.

 

#5 is a novella, based on one of Willig's other books. It left me wanting more, since it is so short. I'm anxious for her next book to come out soon!

 

This week I'm reading the FlyLady's Sink Reflections.

[melmichigan]

I'm jumping in late. This month I'm on a paranormal run and with Christmas break for us going into January I've had quite a start. I just finished the World of the Lupi Series by Eileen Wilks, I'm hoping book 10 comes early in 2012. I read the Shifters Unbound Series by Jennifer Ashley. (I saw that Wild Cat just came out so that will be on my list this week, my library didn't have it.) The beginning of the month I read the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. I read the Jane Yellowrock novels by Faith Hunter and saw that Raven Cursed came out the beginning of the month so I'll add that to Wild Cat this week. For educational purposes I'm reading some of the new Core 100 books and some of the Core 200 literature selections before I hand them to DD. It's just not as much fun so I'll have to see how far I get! ;)

 

Last weekend I caught up on Steve Berry, I read The Emperor's Tomb and The Jefferson Key. I really enjoyed the Emperor's Tomb and am now curious about abiotic versus biotic oil and if any of that is conceivable.

Edited January 16, 2012 by melmichigan

[scholarly]

Forgot to subscribe... Is there any way to do that without posting again?

[KatA]

Forgot to subscribe... Is there any way to do that without posting again?

 

Under "Thread Tools" there's a "Subscribe to Thread" link. You can subscribe that way as well.

[melmichigan]

Has anyone read 30 Pieces of Silver? I'm adding that to my list for the week. It on the bestseller bargain for a day on Amazon right now.

[Jenny in Florida]

I got distracted and didn't finish the book I intended to be #2 by the end of the week. I was reading "The Tragedy of Arthur," which I'm loving, by the way. (In fact, I hopped onto PaperbackSwap and BookMooch and requested all of the author's books that I haven't yet read.) I got through the "introduction," which makes up a good two thirds of the book, but haven't had the quiet time and energy to focus on reading the play. Maybe by next week?

 

Instead, I read "What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You To Know): 272 Secrets for Getting Your Kid Into the Top Schools."

 

I doubt my son will ever be interested in an Ivy League school, but I found a lot of her advice very interesting just in helping me think about managing his high school career for the next two or three years.

 

I also started, but found I was having trouble handling, "The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption." I don't know if I'll be able to finish it, because the descriptions of what was actually done to those poor animals is almost too much for me.

[Onceuponatime]

A few suggestions:

 

[/url]

 

 

Time and Again by Jack Finney

 

From Amazon:

 

"Sleep. And when you awake everything you know of the twentieth century will be gone from your mind. Tonight is January 21, 1882. There are no such things as automobiles, no planes, computers, television. 'Nuclear' appears in no dictionary. You have never heard the name Richard Nixon."

 

Did illustrator Si Morley really step out of his twentieth-century apartment one night -- right into the winter of 1882? The U.S. Government believed it, especially when Si returned with a portfolio of brand-new sketches and tintype photos of a world that no longer existed -- or did it?

 

 

 

I love Time and Again. It's one of my favorite time travel books. There is a sequel.

[Guest]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Let the Great World Spin. Normally, I know if I like a book by this stage. This is one of those rare times when I really can't tell if I'm going to like it or not. Endings are everything to me. Sometimes the book is dragging on for me a bit. Other times, I enjoy it more. Depends whom the chapter is about.

I started this at the beginning of the year and returned it to the library. Wasn't loving it. I'll be curious to hear your final thoughts.

 

 

I'm so sad, I had to return Ahab's Wife to the library today. I already put it on hold again, but it could be another two weeks. I'm really restraining myself from buying it. I am really enjoying it. I'm about 37% done with it, no clue what page that is.

[amyable]

If you power past the quotes and introduction by page three it gets easier. I reread the first page a few times and then decided to just keep going. The whole story isn't written like the first page. Thank goodness. Think she had to get the poetic prose out of the way first or somebody else wrote the beginning paragraphs.

 

That's good to know, thank you for telling me! I'll keep it in the queue (pile, lol).

[Jenny in Florida]

My son requested that I read the YA novel Leviathan since he wanted to discuss the author's alternative WWI storyline with me. Scott Westerfeld has created a rather fascinating "Steampunk" world--I can see why my son loves it.

 

My daughter loves those, too. She's read all three of them and has lobbied hard for my son and I to read them so she can talk.

 

I tried but just couldn't get into the Leviathan. Then, my son and I tried listening to the audiobook on a car trip. He was enjoying it more than I was, but we never got back to it once we were home.

 

Maybe I'll try again one of these days.

[Kareni]

I love Time and Again. It's one of my favorite time travel books. There is a sequel.

 

I enjoyed the sequel, too. Are you a fan of Time Travel books? I am, and I'd love to hear of your other favorites.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Jenny in Florida]

Started to re-read City of Bones, not really into that either.

 

I just have to say how delighted I am that I FINALLY got my son reading these.

 

I knew from when I was about half-way through City of Bones that he would like the series. And I kept talking them up to him, partly to alleviate the guilt I had at buying the hardcover editions as they were released. I figured, at least if two of us read them, it made it more acceptable to spend, right?

 

He kept blowing off the suggestion, until I started talking about the prequels, the Infernal Devices. I drew him into those by talking up the steampunk-ish aspects, and he blew through both of those in just a few days. This morning, he asked me where City of Bones was on the shelf.

 

Yay!

 

Edit: Oh, I meant to ask, too, if you've tried the Parasol Protectorate series? The author is Gail Carriger, and she's a lot of fun. They are also an interesting blend of steampunk, paranormal and romance, light and funny. I often laugh out loud while reading them.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[PeacefulChaos]

Ok, so I just looked on our library's catalog online and it.has.nothing. :glare:

I don't have a Kindle, nook, or anything similar. Is there any other way to find books (without buying them all)?

My library has some of what I'm looking for but not nearly all or enough. :(

[Robin M]

My plan has been to complete the A to Z challenge this year but I'm not sure what I think about that. I had a completely different book selected for the "B" author but it didn't come in in time so I went with the Bradley book. Now the other book is here and I can't read it because I'll be moving on to "C" next :glare: . I might just bail and read whatever suits my fancy!

 

You don't have to stick to the alphabet with all your books. There are ones I read in between. So you don't have to bail. Read what suits your fancy, then read the next book in the alphabet and so on and so on. You can mix it up.

[Mom-ninja.]

Ok, so I just looked on our library's catalog online and it.has.nothing. :glare:

I don't have a Kindle, nook, or anything similar. Is there any other way to find books (without buying them all)?

My library has some of what I'm looking for but not nearly all or enough. :(

 

Interlibrary loan? Paperback Swap?

 

What books are you looking for?

[Kristiana]

Finished 4 books last week! Everyone was getting over illnesses and I decided to just have a slow week with school and try to finish up a series of books that covered the 1960s and into the 70s. It was a sequel series to an LDS WWII series I read last summer. They were easy reads and I just wanted to find out what happened to all the major characters so I could move on with my life. :tongue_smilie:

 

Now I've just started In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick.

[Violet Crown]

The Story of an African Farm, early South African classic novel (sad)

I read that last year. What did you think of it? A South African friend said it was a classic of South African literature. I thought it was very good, but really suffered when Schreiner felt the need to bring her novel to a screeching halt for lengthy exposition of her ideology.

[Violet Crown]

Ok, so I just looked on our library's catalog online and it.has.nothing. :glare:

I don't have a Kindle, nook, or anything similar. Is there any other way to find books (without buying them all)?

My library has some of what I'm looking for but not nearly all or enough. :(

Does your local used bookstore have a clearance section? I can usually find all sorts of 25-cent treasures on the last-stop-till-the-dumpster paperbacks shelf.

[LostSurprise]

5. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery (2)by Maryrose Woods~Youth fiction, part 2 of the series. A plucky governess tutors three children who were raised by wolves. Governess humor. Pithy epigrams. Suspiciously homeschool-like projects. Not as amusing as the first installment (talking to the reader like Lemony Snicket is distracting), but I'll read the next one. Amused that this is shelved under Woo (Nutsawoo, Lumawoo).

 

4. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Jester (read aloud)~Classic youth fiction, boy takes a toy car through a mysterious tollbooth and enters a humorous world of words and numbers.

 

3. The Alienist by Caleb Carr~Mystery, first US attempt at profiling a serial killer by a psychiatrist (known as an alienist) and friends. Teddy Roosevelt is a character in his historical role as NY police commissioner. Lots of great historical detail. Unfortunately some decisions don't make sense at the end and mar an otherwise well-done novel.

 

 

2. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton~Fiction, a small girl is abandoned on a ship to Australia with a white suitcase and a fairy book.

1. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt~Fiction, following several arty, progressive families from the late Victorian period through WWI.

 

 

In Progress:

 

Fire Upon the Deep (Vinge)

How the Other Half Lives (Riis)

The Alphabet in the Park (Prado)

[Onceuponatime]

I enjoyed the sequel, too. Are you a fan of Time Travel books? I am, and I'd love to hear of your other favorites.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I do like time travel books.

 

Some I've read:

House on the Strand- Daphne DuMaurier

Fire Burn!- John Dickson Carr

Lincoln's Dreams- Connie Willis

The Doomsday Book- Connie Willis

To Say Nothing of the Dog- Connie Willis (Best read after Three Men in A Boat by Jerome Jerome)

The End of Eternity- Isaac Asimov

Timeline- Chrichton

The Time Traveler's Wife- Niffenger

Blackout- Connie Willis (this is a two part book, I haven't read the second book yet)

The Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court- Twain

The Time Machine- Wells

Past Watch- Orson Scott Card

Time at the Top and sequel- Ormerond?

Edited January 17, 2012 by Onceuponatime

[jenL]

This week, I finished Breaking TWIG by Deborah Epperson. It was good, but not "run out and get this book" good. It's a coming of age story about a girl who lives shrouded in lies and secrets spurred on by her angry, mean-spirited mother. As time passes, the main character starts to find herself throughout and despite the pain, and the ending is satisfying albeit predictable. I found it free for the Kindle.

 

I'm going to switch gears and read Parenting Children with ADHD by Vincent Monastra next. I'm hoping it will help with some of the issues we've been having with our eldest.

 

Our read-aloud is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the boys are loving it!

 

So far for 2012:

• Radical by David Platt
  
• Made to Crave by Lysa Terkhurst
  
• The Eve Tree by Rachel Devenish Ford
  
• Breaking TWIG by Deborah Epperson
  

[MominIN]

I finished The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson as a read aloud this week. It was about the building of the first Ferris Wheel for the World's Fair in Chicago. It was O.K.

 

I also finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was lightly science fiction told in a memoir sort of tone. I can't really say much else about it without spoiling it ... it has an air of mystery. I liked it.

 

I ordered Ahab's Wife off of Paperbackswap, and was hoping to be able to read along with everyone else. But, unfortunately, it still hasn't been mailed. Hopefully I get it soon and can join in. I've never read it or Moby Dick, and am looking forward to the challenge.

[Negin]

it was my favorite read in 2011. Just plow through...you'll like it in the end. If you're interested, my review from last year is here.

This past week I finished The Night Circus.

I'm midway through A Place of Yes and I have been pleasantly surprised by that book.

Thank you for reassuring me about Let the Great World Spin. Will read your review later. I love your blog. I need to visit it more often. :)

The other two books you mentioned are on my wish list. :)

 

Yes, the story centers around two Welsh girls in the 1970's who are huge David Cassidy fans.

Added it to my wish list. I was a child living in Wales in the 70s and I had a pair of David Cassidy dungarees that everyone used to tease me about - picture of David Cassidy on them. :) I hardly knew who he was, but my older siblings and all the teens around me obviously did.

[luvnlattes]

You don't have to stick to the alphabet with all your books. There are ones I read in between. So you don't have to bail. Read what suits your fancy, then read the next book in the alphabet and so on and so on. You can mix it up.

 

Yay!!! I wondered if I could do that and still officially complete the challenge. I guess I should have just asked :D .

 

I get most of my books from the library and they often have wait lists so I'm never sure when something will come in.

[melmichigan]

You don't have to stick to the alphabet with all your books. There are ones I read in between. So you don't have to bail.

 

Thank you! I should have listed my choices for each week, by habit I have to go and read the entire series when there is one so those were included in my links. :) Reading only by letter would be torture, but I am trying to work through the alphabet.

 

A Adam, Angelic, At Graves End

B Blood Challenge, Blood Magic, Blood Cross, Bodyguard

C Counterfit Magic

D Death Magic, Destined for the Grave, Damien,

E Eternal Kiss of Darkness, Elijah, Ecstacy, Emperor's Tomb

F ? suggestions

[Negin]

F ? suggestions

Funny in Farsi - love, love, love this :D

Food Rules

Five People You Meet in Heaven

Forgotten Garden - my least favorite of all these, but okay nonetheless

[Jennifer3141]

Finished Midsummer last night and I've got just 100 pages to go in So Much. I'm going to crank that out before I leave on Wednesday so I don't have to take that book too. I tossed in another sci fi book this week. It was about time travel and defying death so I loved it. That's going to be my brain candy in between the good stuff. :001_smile:

 

 

1. House Rules by Jodi Picoult

2. A Midsummer Night's Dream

3. So Much For That by Lionel Shriver (currently reading)

4. What Price Honor? by David Stern

5. Daedalus by David Stern

6. Daedalus's Children by David Stern

7. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (book club reading)(currently reading)

8. Surak's Soul by David Stern

9. The Good Men Do by Andy Mangels

10. Ahab's Wife by Seta Jena Naslund (currently reading)

[Robin M]

F ? suggestions

 

Faithful Place - Tana French

Fit to Be Tied - Robin Hatcher

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1) - Jeaniene Frost

Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush series

Christine Feehan - Ghostwalker Series

[Onceuponatime]

 

 

I loved Life of Pi. Beatrice and Virgil not so much. It was way too morbid for me. I don't think it's necessary to read Life of Pi first. One doesn't have anything to do with the other. Or did I miss some symbolism?

 

 

 

Life of Pi is completely different from Beatrice and Virgil. Pi was much more interesting. B & V was just icky to me.

 

Not symbolism. Connections. Connections between the past and the present, connections between imagination and reality, connections between a writer and his reader(s). There are so many connections, just like life.

[Robin M]

Not symbolism. Connections. Connections between the past and the present, connections between imagination and reality, connections between a writer and his reader(s). There are so many connections, just like life.

 

 

You got a point there. I was thinking character wise and story wise.

[Negin]

I'm looking forward to your final review on this one.

I tried reading it about a year ago but couldn't really get into it. That was a shame because I had so enjoyed his book Dancer (a fictionalized biography of Nureyev). I thought his writing was exquisite. Maybe I need to try a different book he has written....

I finished Let the Great World Spin last night. I'm really not good at book reviews and am not going to even attempt one. ;) I ended up liking it a lot and would probably give it 4 out 5 stars. There were parts that just dragged on a bit, but what I loved was that there was true closure. As some of you may know, I'm very big on endings in books and movies. No, they don't need to ride off in the sunset and end up happily ever after, although that would be nice :lol:, but just some sort of closure, please! Is that asking for too much. This book had nice closure.

Stacia, I might read Dancer sometime in the future.

 

If you're interested, my review from last year is here.

Off to look at your blog after these boards. :D

[Negin]

Off to look at your blog after these boards. :D

Really liked your review. Love your blog. :)

[Kidlit]

My review of Behind the Masks, the latest installment in the juvenile Dear America series is here: http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2012/01/17/behind-the-masks-the-diary-of-angeline-reddy-dear-america-series-by-susan-patron/

 

It's by Newbery winning author Susan Patron.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Alice]

 

 

Added it to my wish list. I was a child living in Wales in the 70s and I had a pair of David Cassidy dungarees that everyone used to tease me about - picture of David Cassidy on them. :) I hardly knew who he was, but my older siblings and all the teens around me obviously did.

 

 

I Think You Will Love It. :)

[Negin]

I Think You Will Love It. :)

Thank you. You're tempting me to order it ASAP! :D

[Negin]

You are such a sweetheart! You made my day. :001_smile:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[Angel]

Looks like you are correct according to the author.

 

Q: How do you pronounce Flavia de Luce's name?

 

A: FLAY-vee-ah duh LOOSE

 

 

I say "duh loose" but have no idea if that's correct. How do you say it?

 

Well, that's more common :glare: I was saying it Flah vee ah duh Lu chay. I can't see her as a Flay vee ah :D

[PeacefulChaos]

Reviewed The Body Project on my blog. Link is below, and I pasted it here as well:

Let me just say this…

 

Wow.

 

The book actually only had, I think, 6 chapters. But they were all quite lengthy, and I didn’t find myself dragging through any of them. I found each new chapter interesting, with the various journal entries of girls over the past century, and the facts presented in a way that was engaging.

 

The book starts out with a chapter on how the ‘Life Course of American Girls has Changed’. This chapter speaks of the popularity of intergenerational mentoring that was more prevalent years ago, as well as the different way in which the female body was treated. It then moves on into chapters about menstruation, and how different life is now for girls menstruating than it used to be (getting out of gym class, for example, or being expected to lay around for that course of time each month, as well as the way that the consumer industry has changed and shaped the way that menarche is treated); perfect skin, focusing on the age old battle of acne, and the growing need for women and girls in particular to have perfect skin, in their minds (and it has now even begun rubbing off on males); the body in general, and how girls have made it a priority to make their bodies into a certain image that they see as best – toned, curvy, etc, by dieting, as well as piercings and other body modifications that girls undertake today, making themselves a project of their own; virginity, and how the sexual revolutions of the 20th century have done many things – changed parental influences and the way teens viewed chastity, and the dangers involved; and a return to girl advocacy.

 

While the author and I don’t agree on every point, she makes some very interesting connections. What I gleaned from the book is that we don’t treat girls quite the way they did 100+ years ago. While on many fronts, that is a good thing, there are also some parts of life where the girls have kind of been ‘thrown to the wolves’. There have been huge mindset changes when it comes to what is optimal in many facets of life for girls – looks being one of the most prevalent. It is clear that the rise of the entertainment industry, as well as print ads, has not done our American girls any favors. Whether consciously comparing themselves to what they see in magazines and on TV or not, there is a subconscious ‘standard’ of what beauty is and isn’t that has been culturally ingrained into girls brains. I really don’t know what could be done about this. I do think that parents (particularly mothers) should be as involved as possible in their girls’ lives from as young as possible, so that her influence is not void when compared with that of the skinny, dieting, active American culture.

 

Overall, it really was an excellent book. I can’t say I enjoyed it, per se…there were many parts that left me saddened and surprised. But it was a very good informational book, and I am very glad I read it.

[laundrycrisis]

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children;

Celestially Auspicious Occasions

2. The Mysterious Benedict Society; The Invention of Hugo Cabret

3. The Picture of Dorian Gray

[CAMom]

I finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children last Wednesday and then took off for our speech and debate tournament.

 

Last night I finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I started it a while ago but just got back to it last week. It sure gave me a lot to think about and I'm still processing.

 

Today I started Unbroken. It was that or Ahab's Wife but both are checked out from the library and Unbroken has a hold on it so I can't renew it while the other one can be renewed. I'm really looking forward to both of them!

[Suzq]

I am finishing My Antonia(my week two book) -- I am a bit behind already for finishing a book a week but I am going to keep plugging away at it. I have Ahab's wife waiting for me at the library and I want to begin that. I got the Organized Simplicity free download and hope to read that as well.

 

I am very impressed with all the reading that you all do. How do you get so many books finished in one week? I think i must be a slower reader. :001_smile:

[Mom-ninja.]

I'm on page 50 of Ahab's Wife. Waiting for it to grab me. So far, not so much. I keep finding myself glancing toward my bookshelf.